Following recent reports of cybercriminals demanding bitcoin ransom from Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), yet another case has been reported – this time it’s a luxury hotel in Austria.

The Local reported that the Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt, a luxurious 4-star hotel in Austria, has decided to go public with the incident to warn others of the dangers of cybercrime. The hotel admitted having made a ransom payment in bitcoin to the cybercriminals who hacked its electronic key system, locking the guests in or out of their rooms until the payment was made.

The hotel management also said that the recent attack marked third such incident. This time, however, the cybercriminals succeeded in taking down the entire system.

The hotel has a modern IT system which includes key cards for hotel doors. Following the attack, the guests were not able to get in or out of the rooms and new key cards could not be programmed. The hackers demanded a ransom of 1,500 EUR (1,272 GBP) in bitcoin to unlock the system.

"The house was totally booked with 180 guests, we had no other choice. Neither police nor insurance help you in this case”, Managing Director Christoph Brandstaetter said. "The restoration of our system after the first attack in summer has cost us several thousand Euros. We did not get any money from the insurance so far because none of those to blame could be found."

He said that it was cheaper and faster for the hotel to just pay the Bitcoin. As soon as the payment was made, the hackers unlocked the key registry system and all other computers. However, the hotel management said that the hackers left a back door open, and tried to infiltrate the systems again. The fourth attack was futile as the computers had been replaced, the latest security standards integrated, and some networks had been decoupled.

"We are planning at the next room refurbishment for old-fashioned door locks with real keys. Just like 111 years ago at the time of our great-grandfathers”, Brandstaetter said.